Mayaro Secondary and Toco Secondary won the Secondary Schools boys' and girls' division respectively of the second Annual International 5k Relay held last Sunday in Mayaro.Organised by the Mayaro Secondary School sports committee and fully sponsored by bpTT, this unique event comprises of a 5k run in a relay style, with five legs of one kilometre each. The road race kicked off at the bpTT Mayaro Resource Centre and ended at the entrance to Mayaro Secondary.Captain Jerome Quamina led the Mayaro boys to victory as they edged past a strong challenge from Shiva Boys' Hindu College on the last leg to capture victory and launched the crowd of students, staff and residents into frenzied celebration.Trinity College East trailed behind to place third.
Following his team's victory captain Quamina had this to say, "This was a sweet victory and we want this marathon to grow so that we can compete and emerge victorious over more and more competitors. Every student in Mayaro Secondary has a special talent and our principal, teachers, parents and, most of all, bpTT, are helping us to find the stage to showcase our talents."It was also a moment of special pride for the Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism and Member of Parliament (MP) for Mayaro, Winston Peters, who promised that he would provide sports counselling for the school.Peters said, "I can see that the students of Mayaro Secondary are brimming with confidence and pride and I share this feeling with them because this school has a bright future."The very pleased MP had some words of encouragement for the young runners, "You can surpass all boundaries because your potential is infinite and your future is limitless. You've made me and the entire community proud today."
Corporate Responsibility Manager of bpTT, Ronda Francis also commended the school on their performance, "Mayaro Secondary School invited persons from across the nation and have shown them, both in organising and competing in the event, that they are capable of high standards. BPTT is committed to the upliftment of the Mayaro community."This year's event saw a doubling of last year's participation, featuring over 40 teams competing in three divisions: primary schools, secondary schools and athletic clubs, each division catering for male and female races. The secondary schools division was hotly contested, with 24 schools from across the country including Speyside High School in Tobago.
Phillip Allard, principal of Mucurapo Secondary, couldn't be any more ecstatic about his school's performance. "This day represents the rewards for months of hard work on the part of the teachers, parents and especially the students who really made this event memorable." Allard proudly said."This is a big step to achieving our vision of making our Mayaro Secondary the premier sporting school in the nation. Supporting this vision is bpTT, who have always run with us in transforming our school to capitalise on the potential of our youth," Allard continued.In the females category, the hosts were beaten into second place by Toco Secondary, while El Dorado East took third place.Guayaguayare RC took top place in the boys' division with St. Thomas RC winning in the girls' division among primary schools.Among the athletics clubs, the University of the West Indies' Athletics Club were victorious in the male division, while D'Abadie Progressive Athletics were the sole female representatives.